GAME INFO

Friday, February 5 -- at Charleston Southern (Charleston, S.C.), 7 p.m.
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Saturday, February 6 -- at Charleston Southern (Charleston, S.C.), 6 p.m.
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The High Point University women's basketball team (12-5, 10-2 Big South) looks to start another winning streak when the Panthers travel to Charleston Southern (6-10, 4-8 Big South) for a pair of games on Friday (Feb. 5) and Saturday (Feb. 6).
 

Matchup History

• High Point and Charleston Southern have met 44 times in the Purple and White's Division I history entering the weekend, with the Panthers holding a 30-14 series lead.
• HPU is 8-2 in the last 10 matchups with the Buccaneers, with eight of those games decided by seven points or fewer.
• CSU's latest victory in the series came in the 2019 Big South Tournament when the Bucs upset the No. 2-seeded Panthers on HPU's home court.
• High Point took revenge in the 2019-20 season series, winning both games by an average of 15 points.

 

Across the Bench

• Charleston Southern is 6-10 on the season and enters the weekend on a five-game losing skid and having lost seven of its last eight.
• The Bucs' most recent victory came on Jan. 15 when CSU defeated UNC Asheville 67-63 in the first game between the two schools.
• Charleston Southern enters Friday at 4-8 in Big South play putting the Buccaneers tied with Winthrop for ninth place in the conference standings
• This weekend will feature an interesting battle behind the arc as CSU enters leading the Big South and 38th in the country in three-point percentage (36.1%) while High Point sits in seventh place in Division I in three-point field goal defense (23.7).
• Charleston Southern has two players averaging double digits in scoring this season, led by Sharita Godfrey's mark of 11.1 points per game. She's also one of the best from three-point land in the nation, with her percentage of 48.5% ranked as the 11th-best in all of D1.
• Right behind Godfrey in scoring is Carmella Walker with an average of 10.8 PPG and then Alyssia Fay at 9.7 PPG. Fay is also the Bucs' leading rebounder, grabbing an average of 6.3 boards each contest.

 

Panther Notes

Last Time Out

High Point split its last time out, winning the first game and losing the second at Presbyterian. The Panthers won 75-71 on Jan. 22 to set the Division I program record for wins at 10. HPU got the job done with a bevy of shots from behind the arc, going 19-47 from three-point land. The Panthers saw the streak end the following day with a 56-65 loss but had a bright spot as junior Skyler Curran became the 14th player in HPU's Division I history to score 1,000 points in her career with a 21-point performance - her fourth consecutive 20-point game.
 

The 1K Club

Curran became just the 14th player in HPU's Division I history of women's basketball to join the 1,000-point club and the second in as many years after crossing the milestone last Saturday. She enters this weekend with 1,017 points to her name to sit in 13th place on High Point's D1 scoring list, just 22 points away from 11th place. Curran also entered the season in seventh place on HPU's career three-point list and is now in fourth place with 189 to her name.
 

Raining Buckets

High Point's 19 makes on 47 attempts from beyond the arc last Friday were the most makes and attempts from three this season for the Panthers and were the second-most makes and most three-point attempts in HPU's Division I history. Nationally, the 19 makes are tied for the second-most in a single game across all of Division I this season while the 47 attempts are tied for the third-most.
 

Walk the Plank!

HPU went 5-0 against swashbuckling opponents last season, sweeping the conference series with the Hampton Lady Pirates and the Charleston Southern Buccaneers and picking up a non-conference win over the East Tennessee State Buccaneers. Dating back to her time as a player and assistant coach at Florida Gulf Coast, head coach Chelsea Banbury is 20-3 all-time against swashbuckling foes.
 

Went Streaking

High Point made history on Jan. 22 by winning its 10th game in a row, the longest winning streak since the program made the jump to Division I in 1999. At the time of losing it the following day, the streak was tied for the 11th-longest active winning streak in all of Division I women's basketball. The win on the 22nd also marked the fifth consecutive win on the road and the eighth straight conference win away from home - both tying Division I program records.
 

Saturday Scaries

HPU is now 2-2 on Saturdays this season, with both conference losses occurring on the first day of the weekend.
 

Road Warriors

Due to the shuffling of the Big South schedule as a whole as a result of COVID-19 pauses, High Point is playing its second straight series on the road and third set of games away from home in its last four series.
 

They're Free for a Reason

HPU went 16-16 from the free-throw line over the two games last weekend, bumping its average at the stripe up to 76.7% on the season, the second-highest in the Big South and 25th-best in the country. The Panthers have made a total of 234 shots from the line this season to share for the conference lead and sit 18th in D1.
 

SHOOTER!

Redshirt sophomore Jenson Edwards is second in the conference and 39th in the country in three-point percentage, making 43.0% percent of her shots from behind the arc.
 

Thanks, Captain Obvious

While it may seem obvious that you're more likely to win when you shoot better than the other team, High Point has yet to lose a game when it finishes with a better shooting percentage than its opponent. The Panthers are 12-0 when outshooting their opponents and are 0-5 when the opponent fills it up better than HPU.
 

Playing in the Palmetto State

The Panthers are making their fourth and final trip to South Carolina this weekend in Charleston, completing the stretch of playing all four conference opponents from the Palmetto State on the road this season.
 

Letting it Fly...

After breaking the program record for three-pointers made in a single season last year, the Panthers continue to fire from deep, entering Friday in the top-10 in the country for three-pointers attempted, three-pointers made, and three-pointers per game. HPU makes an average of 9.7 long balls per game, good for ninth in the country, while the Purple and White's 165 total makes on 484 attempts rank third and second, respectively, in all of Division I.
 

...In a No-Fly Zone

High Point is one of the best teams in the country in defending the three-pointer, entering Friday leading the conference and in seventh place in all of Division I by allowing just 23.7% of opponent three-pointers to fall.
 
Three-Point Club Make Total: 165
 

Second-Half Shutdown

The Purple and White clamp down defensively when they enter the second half with a lead, entering Friday 9-1 when leading at halftime. The Panthers have yet to lose a conference game when leading at the break, going 7-0 with a halftime lead and coming from behind at halftime three times now after trailing at the half in both games against Gardner-Webb.
 

Smooth Shooting

HPU shot 54.8% in its win on Jan. 16, the best shooting percentage of the season and the best since the Panthers shot 57.4% against Radford on Feb. 18, 2015.
 

Painting a Picture

The Panthers don't outscore opponents in the paint often, but when they do they're usually successful. HPU enters this weekend 4-1 when winning the battle in the lane, with the lone loss coming in the last game.
 

6-0 with Four in Double Digits

The second win against Gardner-Webb marked the sixth time that HPU has had four players score in double digits in the same game when Curran, Edwards, Claire Wyatt, and Cydney Johnson crossed the 10-point threshold. All six times that the Purple and White have had four scorers in double digits have resulted in wins, with an average winning margin of 16.8.
 

Magic Number

70 seems to be the magic number for HPU's offense as the Panthers are 6-0 when scoring more than 70 points in games this season.
 

Everything Gets Better When the Sun Goes Down

HPU is 8-2 when playing games at night this season, including a 6-0 mark in Big South action once the sun has set.
 

Break Point(s)

High Point likes to push the tempo in transition and is 8-2 when the Purple and White score more fastbreak points than their opponents, including a 6-1 mark in conference play.
 

Seven Days a Week

High Point has played a game every day of the week this season and has picked up at least one win on each day.
 

Steph Curry or Skyler Curran?

Curran is in the top-10 in the country for three-pointers made and attempted this season. She's thrown up 124 shots from behind the arc - the eighth-most in the country - and has connected on 52 of them, the fourth-most in Division I and most in the Big South.
 

Ball Movement

The Panthers lead the Big South in assist to turnover ratio, dishing out an average of .89 assists to each turnover. High Point is also second in the conference in total assists and assists per game with 222 total helpers for an average of 13.1 each game.
 

You Don't Make It, She Takes It

Curran is second in the conference in defensive rebounds per game, snagging an average of 6.4 opponent misses off the glass per game.
 
 
Up Next: High Point's next scheduled games are for next weekend at Radford. The remainder of the schedule is subject to change on a daily basis as the COVID-19 landscape in the conference shifts.
 
This women's basketball preview is presented by Beamer Tire and Auto.